The Winged Heralds
In the wake of the destruction left behind by the Virus, an epiphany was reached. The attempt to subdue its unbridled rage against humankind resulted in casualties well exceeding the tens of thousands, leaving millions more without any idea how to recover from this great tragedy. But the truth was even bleaker: resisting the Virus had ultimately proved to be futile, but this was not the worst it had to offer. It would return, one day, and no one would be safe from its wrath. Some believe this revelation became the foundation for a new religious movement that has rapidly started to climb its way up from the depths of obscurity, while others are wholly convinced that they are actually witnessing the emergence of a fanatical cult seeking to anchor its position in mainstream society. From the highest echelons to the seediest underbellies, charities to research institutions, their message is made known to everyone: the Virus is not truly dead – but it is not our enemy. Humanity's continued ignorance to this painful truth inhibits their potential for expansion, imposes hard limitations on that which should never be restrained or suppressed. But in accepting the Virus, embracing it, an elevation of the soul is achieved from the fusion between the organic and the digital, transcendence, perfection. Only through the Virus can humankind truly secure its destiny – and the Winged Heralds shall be the ones to see this through. Information Invoking angelic symbolism to establish themselves as the appointed harbingers of truth, the Winged Heralds not only seek to preserve and defend mankind from the forces that threaten to destroy it, but also to elevate them to the highest possible apex, the realm of perfection itself. Much of the organization's preferred methods of operation, both internal and external, mirror the structure of many dominant religious institutions the world over, to the point where several small-scale churches, chapels, and prayer centers have been procured for the express purpose of solidifying their place among the social order. While it might appear that their reputation among the public is nothing short of glowing, their approach to the preservation of the human species and its continued evolution is dangerously radical to the point of zealous, and only serves to underscore the darker side of the Winged Heralds as an agency that claims to align itself with the interests of the people. Often, it is required of them to carry out tasks that neither ethics nor morality can appropriately justify or rationalize – for the sake of human progress, no price is too great. The appointed leader of the Winged Heralds, a young woman known only as the 'Cardinal', serves as the cornerstone behind the near-limitless fervor of the group as a collective whole. She is convinced with absolute certainty that the Virus is not dead, but dormant, and that mankind cannot possibly hope to defeat it in the likely event it deigns to wreak havoc once more. This fear compels her to insist that humankind must also evolve in parallel with the Virus, adapt alongside it, so that it might one day realize man's potential and uplift the species into a newer, far more superior state of being. Only total synthesis with the Virus will secure the future of all humanity. Further emulating the internal hierarchies of the Church, the Winged Heralds have instated a quasi-religious ranking system as a means of denoting one's position of influence among the rest of the group. Beneath the Cardinal herself are the Archbishops, her seconds-in-command that oversee a majority of the faction's day-to-day operations; lower down are the Bishops, junior officers that are involved with important missions and ceremonies of an ecclesiastical nature; and lower yet are the Priests, the newly initiated foot soldiers and the grunts called upon to carry out the will of the Heralds en masse. Traits [ REMNANT PULSE ] The Heralds have sampled the effects of the Virus for themselves in their quest for progress, and through their experiments they have discovered a means of replicating but one of its many complexities in the form of a peculiar modification. Once per thread, the trait holder may deploy a potent burst of malignant data that afflicts Reboot status on all other non-Herald characters for a number of turns equal to the amount of non-Herald characters in the thread, but also imposes a random simple condition on the trait holder for the same number of turns due to the mod's indiscriminately hazardous nature. [ GRAFTED TO PERFECTION ] An achievement of the Winged Heralds both equally grisly and magnificent, they have secured the necessary resources for altering matter itself. Once per thread, for five turns, the trait holder may trigger a volatile metamorphosis within themselves to manifest a grotesque, slimy appendage that can neither be called a tentacle or an arm; but something horribly blended, unnaturally crossed, between the two. Attacks with this eldritch limb inflict massive Neutral-affinity damage as if it were a Digimon of the Rookie level and cannot be destroyed or removed by attacks or effects for its full duration. [ PALLADIUM OF FAITH ] Believing themselves to be the harbingers of mankind's rebirth, the Winged Heralds' virulent benefactor has unlocked the bizarre ability to convert digital energy into a suitable instrument of their will. Once per turn, the trait holder may render a card from their Online Deck offline to conjure an ephemeral weapon of their choosing, using the raw data gained from the card as material. These weapons are always Neutral affinity, inflicts moderate damage as if it were a Digimon of the Rookie level, and have a duration equal to the number of online cards remaining in their Online Deck. Creating a new weapon replaces the old one.